“Again, some foreign word,” you say. “Find a short way to say this in Russian, I haven’t thought of one yet,” I will answer. Doomscrolling is a fairly recent term. Although its analogues existed during my childhood. Only there was no “internet” then. But there were grandmothers! Who, having gathered on those same benches at those same entrances, exchanged news. For some reason, 95 percent are exceptionally bad or downright frightening. Having gone home, they tried to retell this news to their loved ones, often receiving rebuff and provoking family conflicts) And so, scientific and technological progress has made smartphones our constant companions. In just five or six years, we have become so accustomed to smartphones that we can’t imagine how we ever managed without them before. A culinary recipe or route to an address you heard for the first time is always at hand. And the news too... And for some reason one’s finger is on “clickbait”, for some reason one’s eyes are drawn to headlines about the dark side of life... A person reads about crimes, perversions, violence, madness - and one gets the complete impression that here they are, the chronicles of the apocalypse, and Judgment Day will happen, if not today, then certainly no later than tomorrow. This is where the name of the phenomenon comes from - doom in English means “Doomsday”, and scrolling means scrolling (news feeds). What is the harm and danger of doomscrolling? After all, almost everyone reads or watches something there on their smartphones. Why not watch the bad news? Isn't the world just made up of cats and vanilla cupcakes? After all, it’s important to know what’s going on around there in order to protect yourself in case something happens. The trap of doomscrolling is that by creating the illusion of control, this activity helps to consolidate a pessimistic outlook on life, creates the impression of a total threat from the surrounding reality and one’s own helplessness in the face of numerous dangers. A person subject to doomscrolling is not only constantly in a state of post-traumatic stress as a “witness to shocking events,” but also repeats this psychological trauma every day, witnessing more and more new troubles and crimes. Fear, anger, helplessness, (often carefully suppressed) Guilt is a normal reaction of a normal person to abnormal events. Gradually, due to constant retraumatization, these reactions become dull, and emotional burnout sets in. It would seem, hurray, adaptation triumphs? But burnout is a so-so adaptation. A depressive mood has become commonplace. Joyful things are no longer particularly pleasing. Upsetting - not so much upsetting, it even seems to bring some satisfaction from predictability: “who would doubt that something good can happen in this world...” The dark part of the personality, meanwhile, requires its dose of “adrenaline.” In such a state, it is difficult to muster the strength to live and work with pleasure. You may feel reluctant to do what you had planned. It is difficult to maintain motivation to work when “everything is bad and will still be bad, and maybe even worse than bad, because look what’s happening.” The feeling of constant threat keeps not only the brain, but the entire body in a state of “high alert,” which means increased tone of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system, increased levels of stress hormones in the blood, increased vascular tone (hello, hypertension and migraines!) . When a significant part of the resources is directed (unconsciously!) to defense, they are not enough to remember some “insignificant little things.” You begin to notice that you are becoming forgetful, and this makes you scared and depressed even more (“this is old age, and maybe even Alzheimer’s...”). Fatigue accumulates. Part of the mind is busy constantly scrolling through what has been read or seen, trying to process it: to find reasons, explanations, ways of salvation. Therefore, it becomes impossible to concentrate on current everyday tasks.